Port Charlotte hospital opens breast milk depot

Charlotte County's first ever breast milk depot is now open and asking for donations.

The Baby Place at Bayfront Health Port Charlotte will host the "depot" in their Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It's essentially a collection site for approved mothers to donate milk to Mother's Milk Bank of Florida, a non-profit organization helping supply human milk to premature babies in need.

Melissa Forsten was the hospital's first donor, dropping off more than 600 ounces of breast milk she'd pumped while home with her 11- month-old daughter.

"I was really running out of room in my freezer," she explained, "I had a freezer in the garage, a freezer inside, and I'm like, 'someone has to benefit from this because she's not going to drink all of this, this is crazy!'"

Donors like Forsten are screened and approved by the organization; then their donated milk is pasteurized and tested several times before being stored at a facility in Orlando.

Bayfront Health Lactation Coordinator Jocelyn Possehl worked for several months to set up the program.

"This milk has been tested, pasteurized; these mothers have been pre-screened, it's not like going somewhere and just picking it up off someone from the street. This is safe pasteurized milk," Possehl said.

She said there is a need in the community for the program, with many moms who'd previously received donor milk eager for a way to safely help other families.

"We've got a lot of moms in our community that really want this, they want to donate their milk, they've used donor milk, so they want to be able to donate and kind of give back," she explained. "We've got moms in our support group who are super excited that they're now going to be able to do it here."

Before the Port Charlotte location opened, donors would have to drive sometimes upwards of 50 miles to depot sites in Sarasota or Lee County.

Research shows mother's milk can make all the difference for premature babies who can't have formula.

Dr. Jignesh Patel, the director of neonatology at Bayfront Port Charlotte, said starting the program was a "no-brainer." As a premature baby himself, he feels a strong connection to these babies.

"Breastmilk is one of the best things that baby can ever have, especially being a premature baby, it reduces a lot of the complications that NICU babies go through," he said.

Those complications include things like digestive problems and weakened immunity. Patel said some research suggests breast milk can even help reduce a premature baby's stay in the NICU.

It's a worthwhile cause for moms like Forsten, who said she'll keep donating while she continues to breastfeed.

"It just made me feel so good to be able to help, and to know that it's touching so many," she said.